Virtualization mapping

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for the management of virtual machine instances are provided. The hosted virtual machine networks are configured in a manner such that communications within the hosted virtual machine network are facilitated through a communication protocol. Illustrative embodiments of the systems and methods may be implemented on a virtual network overlaid on one or more intermediate physical networks that are used as a substrate network. Through the utilization of one or more virtual network mapping components in communication with the hosted virtual network components, communications to and from the hosted virtual networks can be processed by mapping relationships between the virtual network communication protocol and the router communication protocol. The mapping information can be provided in advance or as requested to the router components and hosted virtual network components to facilitate bi-lateral communications between the components.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/456,253, entitled “VIRTUALIZATION MAPPING,” filed Aug. 11, 2014, andsoon to issue as U.S. Pat. No. 9,385,887, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/169,327, entitled “VIRTUALIZATIONMAPPING,” filed Jun. 27, 2011, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,804,745,the entireties of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, computing devices utilize a communication network,or a series of communication networks, to exchange data. Companies andorganizations operate computer networks that interconnect a number ofcomputing devices to support operations or provide services to thirdparties. The computing systems can be located in a single geographiclocation or located in multiple, distinct geographic locations (e.g.,interconnected via private or public communication networks).Specifically, data centers or data processing centers, herein generallyreferred to as a “data center,” may include a number of interconnectedcomputing systems to provide computing resources to users of the datacenter. The data centers may be private data centers operated on behalfof an organization or public data centers operated on behalf, or for thebenefit of, the general public.

To facilitate increased utilization of data center resources,virtualization technologies may allow a single physical computing deviceto host one or more instances of virtual machines that appear andoperate as independent computing devices to users of a data center. Withvirtualization, the single physical computing device can create,maintain, delete, or otherwise manage virtual machines in a dynamicmatter. In turn, users can request computer resources from a datacenter, including single computing devices or a configuration ofnetworked computing devices, and be provided with varying numbers ofvirtual machine resources.

Generally, the physical communication networks include a number ofhardware devices that receive packets from a source network componentand forward the packet to a recipient network component. The packetrouting hardware devices are typically referred to as routers. However,hosted virtual machine network components can have difficulty exchanginginformation in situations in which the hosted virtual networks mustcommunicate with the external networks, through routers, via standardrouting protocols, while utilizing different, often proprietary routingprotocols within the hosted virtual network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisdisclosure will become more readily appreciated as the same becomebetter understood by reference to the following detailed description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a substratenetwork having computing nodes associated with a virtual computernetwork;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating logical networking functionality;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating a substrate network configuration associated with overlaynetworks;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are block diagrams of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating independently determined substrate routing;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are block diagrams of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating virtual route selection propagation to the substratenetwork;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating the determination of routes into or out of a virtualnetwork by network translation device;

FIG. 7A illustrates a flow diagram for a process of propagating virtualroutes to a substrate network;

FIG. 7B illustrates a flow-diagram for a process of determiningsubstrate routing based on target performance characteristics of theassociated virtual network;

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating hosted virtual machine networks including a number ofphysical computing devices and a virtual network mapping component;

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of the substrate network of FIG. 1illustrating including a number of physical computing devices and avirtual network mapping component in communication with routerscorresponding to a communication network;

FIGS. 10A-10C are block diagrams of the simplified substrate network ofFIG. 1 illustrating hosted virtual machine networks exchanginginformation with external networks via a virtual network mappingcomponent;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a virtual network communication processingrouting implemented by a virtual network mapping component; and

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a virtual network communication processingrouting implemented by a virtual network mapping component.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure relate to themanagement of virtual machine instances. Specifically, embodiments ofnetwork data transmission analysis systems and methods are disclosed formanaging communications between hosted virtual machine networks andexternal network. The hosted virtual machine networks are configured ina manner such that communications within the hosted virtual machinenetwork are facilitated through a virtual network communicationprotocol. Illustrative embodiments of the systems and methods may beimplemented on a virtual network overlaid on one or more intermediatephysical networks that are used as a substrate network and which areconfigured to communicate in accordance with the virtual networkcommunication protocol, which may be a standard routing or communicationprotocol. One or more router component of a communication network can beconfigured to facilitate communication through a router communicationprotocol, which may also be a standard routing or communicationprotocol. One or more virtual network mapping components can beimplemented to map relationships between the virtual networkcommunication protocol and the router communication protocol. Themapping information can be provided in advance or as requested to therouter components and hosted virtual network components to facilitatebi-lateral communications between the components.

The following section discusses various embodiments of managed networksfor network data transmission analysis. Following that is furtherdiscussion of network data transmission analysis systems and methodsthat can implement management methodologies.

Managed Computer Networks for Network Data Transmission Analysis

With the advent of virtualization technologies, networks and routing forthose networks can now be simulated using commodity hardware components.For example, virtualization technologies can be adapted to allow asingle physical computing machine to be shared among multiple virtualnetworks by hosting one or more virtual machines on the single physicalcomputing machine. Each such virtual machine can be a softwaresimulation acting as a distinct logical computing system that providesusers with the illusion that they are the sole operators andadministrators of a given hardware computing resource. In addition, asrouting can be accomplished through software, additional routingflexibility can be provided to the virtual network in comparison withtraditional routing. As a result, in some implementations, supplementalinformation other than packet information can be used to determinenetwork routing.

Aspects of the present disclosure will be described with regard toillustrative logical networking functionality for managed computernetworks, such as for virtual computer networks that are provided onbehalf of users or other entities. In at least some embodiments, thetechniques enable a user to configure or specify a network topology,routing costs, routing paths, and/or other information for a virtual oroverlay computer network including logical networking devices that areeach associated with a specified group of multiple physical computingnodes. For example, a user (e.g., a network administrator for anorganization) or service provider may configure a virtual or overlaynetwork based on detected events, processing criteria, or upon request.With the network configuration specified for a virtual computer network,the functionally and operation of the virtual network can be simulatedon physical computing nodes operating virtualization technologies. Insome embodiments, multiple users or entities (e.g. businesses or otherorganizations) can access the system as tenants of the system, eachhaving their own virtual network in the system. In one embodiment, auser's access and/or network traffic is transparent to other users. Forexample, even though physical components of a network may be shared, auser of a virtual network may not see another user's network traffic onanother virtual network if monitoring traffic on the virtual network.

By way of overview, FIGS. 1 and 2 discuss embodiments wherecommunications between multiple computing nodes of the virtual computernetwork emulate functionality that would be provided by logicalnetworking devices if they were physically present. In some embodiments,some or all of the emulation are performed by an overlay network managersystem. FIGS. 2-4B and 7B discuss embodiments where substrate routingdecisions can be made independently of any simulated routing in theoverlay network, allowing, for example, optimization of traffic on thesubstrate network based on information unavailable to a virtual networkuser. FIGS. 5A-7A discuss embodiments where routing decisionsimplemented on the virtual or overlay network are propagated to thesubstrate network. One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate,however, that the disclosed virtual computer network is illustrative innature and should not be construed as limiting.

Overlay Network Manager

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating an embodiment of an overlaynetwork manager system (ONM) for managing computing nodes associatedwith a virtual computer network. Virtual network communications can beoverlaid on one or more intermediate physical networks in a mannertransparent to the computing nodes. In this example, the ONM systemincludes a system manager module 110 and multiple communication managermodules 109 a, 109 b, 109 c, 109 d, 150 to facilitate the configuringand managing communications on the virtual computer network.

The illustrated example includes an example data center 100 withmultiple physical computing systems operated on behalf of the ONMsystem. The example data center 100 is connected to a global internet135 external to the data center 100. The global internet can provideaccess to one or more computing systems 145 a via private network 140,to one or more other globally accessible data centers 160 that each havemultiple computing systems, and to one or more other computing systems145 b. The global internet 135 can be a publicly accessible network ofnetworks, such as the Internet, and the private network 140 can be anorganization's network that is wholly or partially inaccessible fromcomputing systems external to the private network 140. Computing systems145 b can be home computing systems or mobile computing devices thateach connects directly to the global internet 135 (e.g., via a telephoneline, cable modem, a Digital Subscriber Line (“DSL”), cellular networkor other wireless connection, etc.).

The example data center 100 includes a number of physical computingsystems 105 a-105 d and a Communication Manager module 150 that executeson one or more other computing systems. The example data center furtherincludes a System Manager module 110 that executes on one or morecomputing systems. In this example, each physical computing system 105a-105 d hosts multiple virtual machine computing nodes and includes anassociated virtual machine (“VM”) communication manager module (e.g., aspart of a virtual machine hypervisor monitor for the physical computingsystem). Such VM communications manager modules and VM computing nodesinclude VM Communication Manager module 109 a and virtual machines 107 aon host computing system 105 a, and VM Communication Manager module 109d and virtual machines 107 d on host computing system 105 d.

This illustrative data center 100 further includes multiple physicalnetworking devices, such as switches 115 a-115 b, edge router devices125 a-125 c, and core router devices 130 a-130 c. Switch 115 a is partof a physical sub-network that includes physical computing systems 105a-105 c, and is connected to edge router 125 a. Switch 115 b is part ofa distinct physical sub-network that includes the System Manager module110, and is connected to edge router 125 b. The physical sub-networksestablished by switches 115 a-115 b, in turn, are connected to eachother and other networks (e.g., the global internet 135) via anintermediate communication network 120, which includes the edge routers125 a-125 c and the core routers 130 a-130 c. The edge routers 125 a-125c provide gateways between two or more sub-networks or networks. Forexample, edge router 125 a provides a gateway between the physicalsub-network established by switch 115 a and the interconnection network120, while edge router 125 c provides a gateway between theinterconnection network 120 and global internet 135. The core routers130 a-130 c manage communications within the interconnection network120, such as by routing or otherwise forwarding packets or other datatransmissions as appropriate based on characteristics of such datatransmissions (e.g., header information including source and/ordestination addresses, protocol identifiers, etc.) and/or thecharacteristics of the interconnection network 120 itself (e.g., routesbased on the physical network topology, etc.).

The System Manager module 110 and Communication Manager module 109 canconfigure, authorize, and otherwise manage communications betweenassociated computing nodes, including providing logical networkingfunctionality for one or more virtual computer networks that areprovided using the computing nodes. For example, Communication Managermodule 109 a and 109 c manages associated virtual machine computingnodes 107 a and 107 c and each of the other Communication Managermodules can similarly manage communications for a group of one or moreother associated computing nodes. The Communication Manager modules canconfigure communications between computing nodes so as to overlay avirtual network over one or more intermediate physical networks that areused as a substrate network, such as over the interconnection network120.

Furthermore, a particular virtual network can optionally be extendedbeyond the data center 100, such as to one or more other data centers160 which can be at geographical locations distinct from the first datacenter 100. Such data centers or other geographical locations ofcomputing nodes can be inter-connected in various manners, including viaone or more public networks, via a private connection such as a director VPN connection, or the like. In addition, such data centers can eachinclude one or more other Communication Manager modules that managecommunications for computing systems at that data. In some embodiments,a central Communication Manager module can coordinate and managecommunications among multiple data centers.

Thus, as one illustrative example, one of the virtual machine computingnodes 107 a 1 on computing system 105 a can be part of the same virtuallocal computer network as one of the virtual machine computing nodes 107d 1 on computing system 105 d. The virtual machine 107 a 1 can thendirect an outgoing communication to the destination virtual machinecomputing node 107 d 1, such as by specifying a virtual network addressfor that destination virtual machine computing node. The CommunicationManager module 109 a receives the outgoing communication, and in atleast some embodiments determines whether to authorize the sending ofthe outgoing communication. By filtering unauthorized communications tocomputing nodes, network isolation and security of entities' virtualcomputer networks can be enhanced.

The Communication Manager module 109 a can determine the actual physicalnetwork location corresponding to the destination virtual networkaddress for the communication. For example, the Communication Managermodule 109 a can determine the actual destination network address bydynamically interacting with the System Manager module 110, or can havepreviously determined and stored that information. The CommunicationManager module 109 a then re-headers or otherwise modifies the outgoingcommunication so that it is directed to Communication Manager module 109d using an actual substrate network address.

When Communication Manager module 109 d receives the communication viathe interconnection network 120, it obtains the virtual destinationnetwork address for the communication (e.g., by extracting the virtualdestination network address from the communication), and determines towhich virtual machine computing nodes 107 d the communication isdirected. The Communication Manager module 109 d then re-headers orotherwise modifies the incoming communication so that it is directed tothe destination virtual machine computing node 107 d 1 using anappropriate virtual network address for the virtual computer network,such as by using the sending virtual machine computing node 107 a 1'svirtual network address as the source network address and by using thedestination virtual machine computing node 107 d 1's virtual networkaddress as the destination network address. The Communication Managermodule 109 d then forwards the modified communication to the destinationvirtual machine computing node 107 d 1. In at least some embodiments,before forwarding the incoming communication to the destination virtualmachine, the Communication Manager module 109 d can also performadditional steps related to security.

Further, the Communication Manager modules 109 a and/or 109 c on thehost computing systems 105 a and 105 c can perform additional actionsthat correspond to one or more logical specified router devices lyingbetween computing nodes 107 a 1 and 107 c 1 in the virtual networktopology. For example, the source computing node 107 a 1 can direct apacket to a logical router local to computing node 107 a 1 (e.g., byincluding a virtual hardware address for the logical router in thepacket header), with that first logical router being expected to forwardthe packet to the destination node 107 c 1 via the specified logicalnetwork topology. The source Communication Manager module 109 a receivesor intercepts the packet for the logical first router device and canemulate functionality of some or all of the logical router devices inthe network topology, such as by modifying a TTL (“time to live”) hopvalue for the communication, modifying a virtual destination hardwareaddress, and/or otherwise modify the communication header.Alternatively, some or all the emulation functionality can be performedby the destination Communication Manager module 109 c after it receivesthe packet.

By providing logical networking functionality, the ONM system providesvarious benefits. For example, because the various Communication Managermodules manage the overlay virtual network and can emulate thefunctionality of logical networking devices, in certain embodimentsspecified networking devices do not need to be physically implemented toprovide virtual computer networks, allowing greater flexibility in thedesign of virtual user networks. Additionally, correspondingmodifications to the interconnection network 120 or switches 115 a-115 bare generally not needed to support particular configured networktopologies. Nonetheless, a particular network topology for the virtualcomputer network can be transparently provided to the computing nodesand software programs of a virtual computer network.

Logical/Virtual Networking

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed implementation of the ONM system ofFIG. 1 supporting logical networking functionality. The ONM systemincludes more detailed embodiments of the ONM System Manager and ONMCommunication Manager of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, computing node A is sendinga communication to computing node H, and the actions of the physicallyimplemented modules 210 and 260 and devices of network 250 in actuallysending the communication are shown, as well as emulated actions of thelogical router devices 270 a and 270 b in logically sending thecommunication.

In this example, computing nodes A 205 a and H 255 b are part of asingle virtual computer network for entity Z. However, computing nodescan be configured to be part of two distinct sub-networks of the virtualcomputer network and the logical router devices 270 a and 270 b separatethe computing nodes A and H in the virtual network topology. Forexample, logical router device J 270 a can be a local router device tocomputing node A and logical router device L 270 b can be a local routerdevice to computing node H.

In FIG. 2, computing nodes A 205 a and H 255 b includes hardwareaddresses associated with those computing nodes for the virtual computernetwork, such as virtual hardware addresses that are assigned to thecomputing nodes by the System Manager module 290 and/or theCommunication Manager modules R 210 and S 260. In this example,computing node A has been assigned hardware address “00-05-02-0B-27-44,”and computing node H has been assigned hardware address“00-00-7D-A2-34-11. ” In addition, the logical router devices J and Lhave also each been assigned hardware addresses, which in this exampleare “00-01-42-09-88-73” and “00-01-42-CD-11-01,” respectively, as wellas virtual network addresses, which in this example are “10.0.0.1” and“10.1.5.1,” respectively. The System Manager module 290 maintainsprovisioning information 292 that identifies where each computing nodeis actually located and to which entity and/or virtual computer networkthe computing node belongs.

this example, computing node A 205 a first sends an address resolutionprotocol (ARP) message request 222-a for virtual hardware addressinformation, where the message is expected to first pass through alogical device J before being forwarded to computing node H.Accordingly, the ARP message request 222-a includes the virtual networkaddress for logical router J (e.g., “10.0.0.1”) and requests thecorresponding hardware address for logical router J.

Communication Manager module R intercepts the ARP request 222-a, andobtains a hardware address to provide to computing node A as part ofspoofed ARP response message 222-b. The Communication Manager module Rcan determine the hardware address by, for example, looking up varioushardware address information in stored mapping information 212, whichcan cache information about previously received communications.Communication Manager module R can communicate 227 with the SystemManager module 290 to translate the virtual network address for logicalrouter J.

The System Manager module 290 can maintain information 294 related tothe topology and/or components of virtual computer networks and providethat information to Communication Manager modules. The CommunicationManager module R can then store the received information as part ofmapping information 212 for future use. Communication Manager module Rthen provides computing node A with the hardware address correspondingto logical router J as part of response message 222-b. While request222-a and response message 222-b actually physically pass betweencomputing node A and Communication Manager module R, from the standpointof computing node A, its interactions occur with local router device J.

After receiving the response message 222-b, computing node A 205 acreates and initiates the sending of a communication 222-c to computingnode H 255 b. From the standpoint of computing node A, the sentcommunication will be handled as if logical router J 270 a werephysically implemented. For example, logical router J could modify theheader of the communication 265 a and forward the modified communication265 b to logical router L 270 a, which would similarly modify the headerof the communication 265 b and forward the modified communication 265 cto computing node H. However, communication 222-c is actuallyintercepted and handled by Communication Manager module R, whichmodifies the communication as appropriate, and forwards the modifiedcommunication over the interconnection network 250 to computing node Hby communication 232-3. Communication Manager module R and/orCommunication Manager module S may take further actions in this exampleto modify the communication from computing node A to computing node H orvice versa to provide logical networking functionality. For example,Communication Manager module S can provides computing node H with thehardware address corresponding to logical router L as part of responsemessage 247-e by looking up the hardware address in stored mappinginformation 262. In one embodiment, a communication manager or computingnode encapsulates a packet with another header or label where theadditional header specifies the route of the packet. Recipients of thepacket can then read the additional header and direct the packetaccordingly. A communication manager at the end of the route can removethe additional header.

A user or operator can specify various configuration information for avirtual computer network, such as various network topology informationand routing costs associated with the virtual 270 a, 270 b and/orsubstrate network 250. In turn, the ONM System Manager 290 can selectvarious computing nodes for the virtual computer network. In someembodiments, the selection of a computing node can be based at least inpart on a geographical and/or network location of the computing node,such as an absolute location or a relative location to a resource (e.g.,other computing nodes of the same virtual network, storage resources tobe used by the computing node, etc.). In addition, factors used whenselecting a computing node can include: constraints related tocapabilities of a computing node, such as resource-related criteria(e.g., an amount of memory, an amount of processor usage, an amount ofnetwork bandwidth, and/or an amount of disk space), and/or specializedcapabilities available only on a subset of available computing nodes;constraints related to costs, such as based on fees or operating costsassociated with use of particular computing nodes; or the like.

Route Selection on Substrate Network

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of a substrate network 300having a route manager 336 capable of determining routes for overlaynetworks. The substrate network 300 can be composed of one or moresubstrate components or nodes, such as computing nodes, routing nodes,communication links or the like. In FIG. 3, the substrate network 300includes computing nodes A 302, B 304, C 306, and D 308, which arecapable of simulating various components of one or more associatedoverlay networks. The nodes can be located on the same data center or inmultiple data centers. Computing node A is interconnected to node B vianetwork W 310, node B is connected to node C by network X 312, node C isconnected to node D by network Y 314, and node D is connected to node Aby network Z 316. Networks W, X, Y, and Z can include one or morephysical networking devices, such as routers, switches, or the like, andcan include private or public connections. Components shown in FIG. 3,such as the computing nodes and communication manager modules, canimplement certain of the features of embodiments described above withrespect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 3, nodes A 302, B 304, C 306, and D 308 are associated with arespective Communication Manager module 320, 322, 324, and 326. Thecommunication manager modules can implement certain of the featuresdescribed in the Communication Manager 150, 210, 260 and VMCommunication manager 109 a, 109 b, 109 c, 109 d of FIGS. 1 and 2. Forexample, the Communication Manager module 320 for node A can operate ona hypervisor monitor of the computing node and can direct thecommunication of one or more virtual computing nodes 330, 332, 334 ofnode A. The computing nodes, communication managers and Route Manager336 can be part of the same ONM system. In one embodiment, the computingnodes run the XEN operating system (OS) or similar virtualization OS,with the communication managers operating on domain 0 or the first OSinstance and the virtual computing nodes being domain U or additional OSinstances.

The communication manager modules in FIG. 3 are in communication with aRoute Manager module 336, operating on one or more computing devices,that directs routing for the substrate network 300. In one embodiment,the Route Manager operates as part of the ONM System Manager module 110,290 of FIGS. 1 and 2, with functionally combined into a single module.The Route Manager can be located within a data center or at a regionallevel and direct traffic between data centers. In one embodiment,multiple Route Managers can operate in a distributed manner tocoordinate routing across multiple data centers.

In FIG. 3, two virtual networks are associated with the substratenetwork 300. Virtual network 1 (VN1) has components 338, 340, 342,associated with virtual computing nodes on computing nodes A 302, B 304,and C 306. Virtual network 2 (VN2) has components 344, 346, 348associated with virtual computing nodes on nodes A, C, and D 308.

As the Routing Manager module 336 directs network traffic on thesubstrate network 300, traffic can be directed flexibly and variousnetwork configurations and network costs can be considered. For example,routing paths can be determined based on specified performance levelsfor the virtual networks. In one embodiment, if the user for VN1 isentitled to a higher service level, such as for faster speed (e.g. lowerlatency and/or higher bandwidth), traffic associated with VN1 can berouted on a “fast” path of the substrate network 300. For example, inone embodiment, traffic for “platinum” users is prioritized over trafficfor “gold” and “silver” users, with traffic from “gold” usersprioritized over “silver” users. In one embodiment, at least somepackets of the user with the higher service level are prioritized overpackets of a user with a lower service level, for example, during timesof network congestion. The user may be entitled to a higher levelbecause the user has purchased the higher service level or earned thehigher service level through good behavior, such as by paying bills,complying with the operator's policies and rules, not overusing thenetwork, combinations of the same, or the like.

The Route Manager 336 can store user information or communicate with adata store containing user information in order to determine the targetperformance level for a virtual network. The data store can beimplemented using databases, flat files, or any other type of computerstorage architecture and can include user network configuration, paymentdata, user history, service levels, and/or the like. Typically, theRoute Manager will have access to node and/or link characteristics forthe substrate nodes and substrate links collected using various networkmonitoring technologies or routing protocols. The Route Manager can thenselect routes that correspond to a selected performance level for thevirtual network and send these routes to the computing nodes. Forexample, network W 310 and Y 312 can be built on fiber optic lines whilenetwork Y 314 and Z 316 are built on regular copper wire. The RouteManager can receive network metrics data and determine that the opticallines are faster than the copper wires (or an administrator candesignate the optical lines as a faster path). Thus, the Route Manager,in generating a route between node A 302 and node C 306 for “fast” VN1traffic, would select a path going through network W and Y (e.g., pathA-B-C).

In another situation, where the user for VN2 is not entitled to a higherservice level, VN2 traffic from node A 302 to node B 306 can be assignedto a “slow” or default path through network Y 314 and Z 316 (e.g. pathA-D-C). In order to track routing assignments, the Routing Manager canmaintain the routes and/or route association in a data store, such as aRouting Information Base (RIB) or routing table 350. The Route Managercan also track the target performance criteria 351 associated with aparticular virtual network.

In order to direct network traffic on the substrate network 300, theRouting Manager 336 can create forwarding entries for one or more of theCommunication Manager modules 320, 322, 324, 326 that direct how networktraffic is routed by the Communication Manager. The CommunicationManager modules can store those entries in forwarding tables 352, 354,356, or other similar data structure, associated with a CommunicationManager. For example, for VN1, the Route Manager can generate a controlsignal or message, such as a forwarding entry 358, that directs VN1traffic received or generated on node A 302 through network W 310 (onpath A-B-C). Meanwhile, for VN2, the Route Manager can generate acontrol signal or message, such as a forwarding entry 360, which directstraffic received on node A through network Z. The Route Manager can sendthese forwarding entries to the node A Communication Manager 320, whichcan store them on its forwarding table 352. Thus, network trafficassociated with VN1 and VN2, destined for node C 306 received orgenerated on node A can travel by either path A-B-C or path A-D-C basedon the designated performance level for VN1 and VN2.

While the example of FIG. 3 depicts only two virtual networks, the RouteManager 336 can similarly generate and maintain routes for any number ofvirtual networks. Likewise, the substrate network 300 can include anynumber of computing nodes and/or physical network devices. Routes can bedetermined based on multiple performance criteria, such as networkbandwidth, network security, network latency, and network reliability.For example, traffic for a virtual network suspected of being used forspamming (e.g. mass advertisement emailing) can be routed throughnetwork filters and scanners in order to reduce spam.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a virtual network 401 and correspondingsubstrate network 402 where substrate routing is independentlydetermined from virtual routing. FIG. 4A illustrates a virtual networkincluding several virtual network components. Virtual computing nodes I4404 and I5 406 are connected to a logical router 408. The logical routercan implement certain of the features described in the logical router270 a, 270 b of FIG. 2. The logical router is connected to firewalls I1410 and I2 412. The logical router is configured to direct traffic fromI5 to I2 and I4 to I2, as would be the case if I2 were a backupfirewall. The forwarding table associated with logical router 409reflects this traffic configuration. I1 and I2 are connected to a secondrouter 414. The second router is connected to another virtual computingnode, I3 415. Thus, based on the topology and associated forwardingtable of the virtual network 401, traffic from I4 and I5 to I3 passedthrough I2.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example topology of the substrate network 402associated with the virtual network 401. The substrate network includescomputing node A 420, computing node B, and a Route Manager 424.Substrate nodes A and B are each associated with a Communication Manager426, 428. Node A is simulating the operation of virtual components I2,I3, and I5 while Node B is simulating the operation of virtualcomponents on I1 and I4 on their respective virtual machines. The RouteManager can then use information regarding the assignments of virtualcomponents to computing nodes to optimize or otherwise adjust routingtables for the substrate network. The Route Manager can receive suchinformation from the Communication Managers and/or the System Manager.For example, assuming I1 and I2 are identical virtual firewalls, theRoute Manager can determine that because I5 and I2 are located on thesame computing node, while I4 and I1 are located on the other node,virtual network traffic can be routed from I5 to I2 and from I4 to I1without leaving the respective computing node, thus reducing traffic onthe network. Such a configuration is reflected in the illustratedforwarding tables 430, 432 associated with the Communication Managers.Thus, routes on the substrate network can be determined independently ofvirtual network routes.

In some embodiments, the Route Manager 424 or System Manager canoptimize or otherwise improve network traffic using other techniques.For example, with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, another instance of I3can be operated on node B 422, in addition to the instance of I3 on nodeA. Thus, virtual network traffic from I5-I2-I3 and I4-I1-I3 can remainon the same computing node without having to send traffic betweencomputing nodes A and B. In one embodiment, substrate traffic can beoptimized or otherwise improved without having different forwardingentries on the substrate and the virtual network. For example, withreference to FIG. 4B, I4 can be moved from computing node B 422 to nodeA 420, thus allowing virtual traffic from I5 and I4 to I2 to remain onthe same computing node. In this way, a user monitoring traffic onlogical router 408 would see that traffic is flowing according theforwarding table in the router, that is, substrate routing istransparent to the user. Other techniques for optimizing traffic bychanging the association of virtual components with virtual machinesand/or duplicating components can also be used.

In some situations, it can be desired that substrate routes reflectroutes specified in the virtual table. For example, the virtual networkuser can wish to control how traffic is routed in the substrate network.However, rather than giving the user access to the substrate network,which could put other users at risk or otherwise compromise security, adata center operator can propagate network configuration or virtualnetwork characteristics specified by the user for the virtual network tothe substrate network. This propagated data can be used in generatingrouting paths in the substrate network, thus allowing the user to affectsubstrate routing without exposing the substrate layer to the user.

Route Selection on Overlay/Virtual Network

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a virtual route selection propagated to thesubstrate network. FIG. 5A illustrates a virtual network topology wherelogical network 1 (LN1) 502 is connected to logical network 2 (LN2) 504and logical network 3 (LN3) 506 by a logical router 508. The currentpreferred routing path specified by the user is from LN1 to LN2.

A user may wish to specify a route for various reasons. For example,routing costs through LN2 can be cheaper than LN3, such as when LN2 andLN3 are in different locations with different ISPs and one ISP chargeslower rates than another. In another example, LN3 can be a backupvirtual network for LN2, and used only in some situations, such as forhandling overflow from LN2.

Referring back to FIG. 5A, the user can specify preferred routes throughthe virtual network and/or characteristics or costs associated with thevirtual components, such as monetary costs, packet loss rates,reliability rate, and/or other metrics. These characteristics can beassigned to the virtual components, such as the virtual computing nodes,node links, logical routers/switches or the like. The Route Manager 510can then determine routing tables 512 and/or forwarding tables 514 forthe virtual network.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example of a substrate route that can correspondto the virtual route in FIG. 5A. In the figure, there are three datacenters 520, 522, 524 corresponding to the logical networks 502, 504,506 of FIG. 5A. In data center 1 (DC1), a computing node 526 isconnected to a network translation device A (NTD A) 528 and a networktranslation device B (NTD B) 530. The network translation devices areconnected to external networks C 532 and D 534, respectively.

The network translation devices can serve as a gateway or entry/exitpoint into the virtual network. In some embodiments, the networktranslation devices can translate between a first addressing protocoland a second addressing protocol. For example, if the virtual network isusing IPv6 and the external networks are using IPv4, the networktranslation devices can translate from one addressing protocol to theother for traffic in either direction. In one embodiment, users connectfrom their private networks to the data centers via a VPN or otherconnection to a network translation device, which translates and/orfilters the traffic between networks.

Referring back to FIG. 5B, network C 532 connects data center 2 522 toNTD A 528. Network D 534 connects data center 3 524 to NTD B 530. TheRoute Manager module 510 is in communication with data center 1 520,data center 2 522, and data center 3 524, particularly with theCommunication Manager for the computing node 526.

From information associated with the virtual network, the Route Manager510 can determine that the user wants to route traffic from LN1 to LN2.The Route Manager can then “favor” substrate routes associated with theLN1 to LN2 virtual path. For example, the Route Manager can specify alow routing cost (e.g. cost 1) for communications, such as data packets,travelling on Network C relative to Network D (e.g. cost 10) such thatduring route determination, routes through Network C are favored. In oneembodiment, the Route Manager can apply a coefficient to storedsubstrate costs in order to favor one route over another. In anotherexample, explicit routing paths can be set up corresponding to thevirtual route. The Route Manager can identify routes in its routingtable and communicate those routes with one or more CommunicationManagers.

Referring back to FIG. 5B, when the computing node 526 receives orgenerates a packet destined for LN2 or a network reachable from LN2, thecomputing node can be configured by the Route Manager to send packetsthrough NTD A 528 as it lies on the route including network C 532.

By propagating virtual network configuration data to the substrate, andusing that configuration data in substrate route calculation, amechanism is provided for a virtual network user to affect substraterouting. In some embodiments, the virtual configuration data can be usedin determining association of the virtual components with the substratecomponents. For example, components of the same virtual network can beassociated with the same substrate computing node or on computing nodesconnected to the same switch in order to minimize or otherwise improvesubstrate network traffic. Configuration data can also be provided theother way and, in some embodiments, the user and/or virtual network canbe provided with additional substrate information, such ascharacteristics of the underlying associated substrate components (e.g.performance, costs) in order to make more informed routing decisions.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example substrate network wherein a networktranslation device determines routes into or out of a virtual network.In FIG. 6, a communication, such as a data packet, leaves computing nodeA, which is associated with a virtual network, through NTD B 604. Thenetwork translation device can include a Route Determination module 605for determining the packet route. NTD B is connected to network C 606and network D 608.

In FIG. 6, the Route Manager 610 receives a network configuration ordetermines that route A-B-C is preferred or has a cheaper cost. TheRoute Manager can store the route in a routing table 612. The RouteManager can then send forwarding entries to the NTD B 604 that configureit to send traffic through network C 606. NTD B can contain multipleforwarding entries for multiple virtual networks, such that data for onevirtual network can be sent through network C, while another virtualnetwork sends data through network D. In some cases, network packetswith the same source and/or destination are sent by different networksbased on the associated virtual network.

In some embodiments, the substrate component may not have aCommunication Manager or a Route Determination module and other ways ofcoordinating routing can be used. For example, a substrate component,such as an ordinary router or a network translation device, can be setup multiply on separate paths. Using blacklists, network traffic for aparticular virtual network can be allowed on one path but blocked onothers. The Route Manager can send a control signal or message updatingthe blacklists to manage the data flow.

In other embodiments, substrate components can implement IP aliasing,where, for example, “fast” path packets use one set of IP addresses,while “slow” path packets use another set of IP addresses. When thesubstrate component receives the packet, it can determine which path touse based on the IP address. The Route Manager can send a control signalor message to assign IP addresses to the components based on the type oftraffic handled.

Other ways of differentiating how packets are handled by substratecomponents include: tagging of packets, such as by Multiprotocol LabelSwitching (MPLS); MAC stacking where a packet could have multiple MACaddresses, the first MAC address for a substrate component, such as aswitch, and a second MAC address for a next component either on the“fast” or the “slow” path; and using Network Address Translation (NAT)devices on both ends of a network in order to redirect traffic into thenetwork, such as by spoofing or altering an destination address for anincoming packing and/or altering an the source address of an outgoingpacket. In some embodiments, the Route Manager generates control signalsor messages for coordinating traffic on the substrate network for thevarious techniques described above.

Virtual Network Route Selection Process

FIG. 7A illustrates a flow diagram for a process 700 of propagatingvirtual routes to a substrate network usable in the example networksdescribed above. The virtual routes can be based on networkconfiguration data provided by a virtual network user, such as costs,component characteristics, preferred routes, and/or the like.

At block 705, the Route Manager module receives user configurationand/or network configuration data, such as, for example, policy basedrouting decisions made by the user. In some embodiments, a userinterface is provided, allowing a user to specify configuration data.The Route Manager can receive the configuration data from a data store,for example, if user configuration and/or network configuration data arestored on the data store after being received on the user interface orotherwise generated. In some embodiments, the configuration data caninclude explicit routing paths through the virtual network. In someembodiments, the configuration data can specify associated costs fortraversing components of the virtual network, such as links and/ornodes. These costs can be based on monetary costs, packet loss rates,reliability rate, and/or other metrics. These costs can be provided bythe user to configure the virtual network provided by the data centeroperator. However, costs and other network configuration data can comefrom the data center operator themselves in addition to or instead offrom the user. For example, the data center operator can use the virtualnetwork to provide feedback to the user on routing costs, such as byassociating monetary use costs for the substrate computing nodes and/orcomponents. In one example, the data center operator can specify a highcost for a high speed network link or high powered computing node sothat the virtual network user can take into account that cost inconfiguring the virtual network.

At block 710, the Route Manager module determines virtual network routesbased on the user configuration and/or network configuration data. Insome embodiments, routing protocols or the route determinationalgorithms of the routing protocols, such as BGP, OSPF, RIP, EIGRP orthe like, can be used to determine virtual routes.

At block 715, the Route Manager determines one or more forwardingentries for substrate network components, such as computing nodes,network translation devices, or the like. As the Route Manager candetermine routing paths and propagate routing decisions to the substratecomponents, the Route Manager can coordinate routing within a datacenter and/or between multiple data centers.

At block 720, the Route Manager transmits the forwarding entries to thesubstrate components. At block 725, the substrate component receives theforwarding entries. The substrate network components can store theforwarding entries in FIB tables or similar structures. Generally, aCommunication Manager on the substrate component receives and processesthe forwarding entry and manages communications of the substratecomponent.

However, as discussed above, network traffic can also be coordinated forsubstrate components without a Communication Manager using instead, forexample, a NAT device or the like. In some embodiments, the RouteManager can send blacklist updates, manage tagging of the packets,generate stacked MAC addresses, or the like.

At block 730, the substrate components route packets received orgenerated according to the stored forwarding entries. Generally, aCommunication Manager on the substrate component manages the packetrouting and refers to the forwarding entries to make forwardingdecisions.

Substrate Network Route Selection Process

FIG. 7B illustrates a flow-diagram for a process 750 for determiningsubstrate routing based on target performance characteristics of theassociated virtual network usable in the example networks describedabove. In some instances, the Route Manager can optionally generate avirtual routing table for the virtual network before determiningsubstrate routing. The virtual routing table can be used to determinevirtual routing paths, allowing optimization of network traffic byselective association of the virtual network components with substratecomputing nodes, such as by taking into account physical location andvirtual network traffic patterns. However, generation of the virtualrouting table is not necessary as the substrate routes can be determinedindependently of the virtual routes, as will be described below. Inaddition, user configuration and/or network configuration data providedby the user can be used to describe the virtual network, without needingto generate a virtual routing table.

At block 755, the Route Manager receives characteristics of thesubstrate nodes and/or node links. The Route Manager can receive thecharacteristics data from a data store. In some embodiments, a userinterface is provided, allowing a user to specify characteristics data.The characteristics can describe such things as monetary costs, networkbandwidth, network security, network latency, network reliability and/orthe like. These characteristics can be used in a cost function fordetermining substrate routing paths. This information can be kept by theRoute Manager or data source accessible by the Route Manager.

At block 760, the Route Manager receives a target network performancefor the virtual network. The target performance can be based on apurchased service level by the user, user history, security data or thelike. For example, a service level purchased by a user can have minimumbandwidth, latency, or quality of service requirements. In anotherexample, a user can be a new customer with an unknown payment historysuch that the user is provisioned on a “slow” virtual network in orderto minimize incurred expenses in case the user fails to pay. In anotherexample, a user identified as carrying dangerous or prohibited traffic,such as viruses, spam or the like, can be quarantined to particularsubstrate components. During quarantine, the virtual network componentscan be assigned to specialized substrate components with more robustsecurity features. For example, the substrate components can haveadditional monitoring functionally, such as a deep-packet scanningability, or have limited connectivity from the rest of the substratenetwork.

At block 765, the Route Manager determines substrate network routesbased on the target network performance and/or characteristics of thesubstrate nodes and/or links. In one embodiment, the Route Manager canuse the characteristic data in a cost function for determining routes.Which characteristic to use or what level of service to provide can bedetermined by the performance criteria or target performance? Forexample, for a “fast” route, the Route Manager can use bandwidth and/orlatency data for the substrate network to generate routes that minimizelatency, maximize available bandwidth, and/or otherwise improve networkperformance.

The Route Manager can re-determine routes as needed based on changes inthe network, the configuration data, and/or the performance level. Forexample, if a user has purchased N gigabits of “fast” routing but hasreached the limit, the Route Manager can generate new routes and shiftthe user to “slow” routing.

At block 770, the Route Manager transmits forwarding entries for one ormore routes to one or more nodes and/or network translation devices. Insome embodiments, the Route Manager determines forwarding entries forthe substrate components and sends those forwarding entries to thesubstrate components on the path. In some embodiments, the Route Managercan send blacklist updates, manage tagging of data packets, and/orgenerate stacked MAC addresses.

At block 775, the Route Manager can optionally update the virtualrouting table based on substrate network routes. By changing the virtualnetwork routing table based on the substrate routes, the virtual networkcan stay logically consistent with the behavior of the substratenetwork. Thus, users won't necessarily be confused by discrepancies inthe virtual routing.

Management of Communications Associated with Hosted Virtual MachineNetworks

With reference now to FIGS. 8-12, various embodiments for the managementof communications associated with virtual machine instances and hostedvirtual machine networks will be described. As previously described inFIG. 1 and as illustrated in FIG. 8, the substrate network 802 includesa number of physical computing systems 804 that host one or more virtualmachine instances 808. As will be explained in greater detail, thenumber of virtual machine instances hosted on each physical computingsystem 804 can vary according to the computing device resourcesassociated with each individual physical computing system 804 and inaccordance with the management policies of the substrate network 102. Acollection of one or more virtual machine instances can correspond tovarious components of a hosted virtual network. The hosted virtualnetwork is typically logically configured according to clientspecifications and implemented on the substrate network 802.

As previously described, the substrate network 802 also includes avirtual machine manager component, such as ONM system manager 110 (FIG.1), for managing the allocation of virtual machine instances 808 on thevarious physical computing systems 804. In one embodiment, the hostedvirtual machine instances can be configured in a manner to logicallyrepresent a network of virtual machine instances, generally referred toas a hosted virtual machine network. One skilled in the relevant artwill appreciate that illustrative interaction and communications mayinclude, or otherwise involve, additional components not illustrated inthe illustrative drawing figures. For example, for purposes of the FIGS.8-10, however, the ONM system manager component 110 is not illustrated.

With continued reference to FIG. 8, the substrate network 802 includestwo or more virtual network mapping components 806 for facilitatingcommunications between hosted virtual networks and routing components ofthe communication network 812. In one aspect, the virtual networkmapping components 806 can communicate with hosted virtual networkcomponents in accordance with an established virtual networkcommunication protocol utilized by the substrate network 802. In anotheraspect, the virtual network mapping components 806 can communicate withat least a portion of the router components of the communication network812 that facilitate communication to external networks/computing devices814 in accordance with an establish router communication protocol.Illustratively, each virtual network mapping component 806 can beconfigured to communicate with the routing components in accordance withknown routing protocols such as the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).Additionally, the virtual network mapping component 806 can beconfigured to communicate with hosted virtual networks via knowncommunication protocols, such as the Multi-Protocol Label Switching(MPLS) communication protocol. The virtual network mapping component 806can generate mapping information that correlates communications pursuantto the router communication protocol with communications pursuant to thevirtual network communication protocol and vice versa. The virtualnetwork mapping component 806 can then configure various routercomponents and virtual network components with the mapping informationor provide mapping information as requested. Although the substratenetwork 812 is illustrated as including two virtual network mappingcomponents 806, the substrate network 812 can include any number ofvirtual network mapping components 806.

With continued reference to FIG. 8, the substrate network 102 canfurther include a mapping data store 810 for maintaining mappinginformation between various network nodes associated with a hostedvirtual node and routing components of the communication network 812.The mapping data store 810 may correspond to network attached storage(NAS), database servers, which may be implemented in a centralized ordistributed manner.

With reference now to FIG. 9, in one embodiment, the virtual networkmapping components 806 are arranged in a manner to facilitatecommunication with the hosted virtual networks made up of virtualmachine instances 808 hosted on physical machines 804. The hostedvirtual network utilizes a virtual network communication protocol tofacilitate communication between the various virtual components of thehosted virtual network, to facilitate interaction with other hostedvirtual networks and to facilitate communication to external networks.As previously described, in one embodiment, the hosted virtual networkcomponents can utilize MPLS. In an illustrative embodiment,communications from the hosted virtual networks to external networks arefacilitated via the communication network 812, which includes varioushardware components, such as routers 816. Each virtual network mappingcomponent 806 is in communication with at least a subset of the routers806 in accordance with a router communication protocol. As previouslydescribed, in one embodiment, the router communication protocol cancorrespond to BGP. To facilitate communications between the routercomponents 816 and the hosted virtual network components (e.g., virtualmachines 808), the virtual network mapping component 806 generates andprovides mapping information to facilitate the exchange of data packetsbetween the hosted virtual networks and external networks. Inembodiment, the virtual network mapping component 806 can providemapping information or configure routing components/hosted virtualnetwork components with the mapping information. In another embodiment,the virtual network mapping component 806 can also provide the mappinginformation on request without requiring the components of the hostedvirtual network to maintain routing information necessary to facilitatecommunications to the external networks 814.

Illustratively, the configuration of the virtual network mappingcomponent 806 may correspond to an assignment of a virtual networkmapping component 806 to a subset of the hosted virtual networks of thesubstrate network 802. Additionally, the configuration of the virtualnetwork mapping components 806 may correspond to an assignment of atleast a subset of the routers 816 of the communication network 802.Additionally, one or more virtual network mapping components 806 may beconfigured to provide for redundancy or overlap such that communicationsare maintained.

Referring now to FIGS. 10A-10C, the illustrative configuration ofcommunications between hosted virtual machine networks and externalnetworks via the virtual network mapping component 806 will bedescribed. With reference to FIG. 10A, one or more of the virtualnetwork mapping components 806 can be configured to maintain mappinginformation (via the mapping data store 810). Specifically, the virtualnetwork mapping components 806 obtain routing protocol configurationinformation associated with one or more routing components 816 of thecommunication network 812, such in accordance with routing protocols,such as BGP. In one embodiment, each virtual network mapping component806 forms a mesh network with at least a subset of the routers inaccordance with BGP routing information. Based on the routing protocolconfiguration information, the virtual network mapping component 806then generate or obtain mapping information for facilitatingcommunication with hosted virtual machine network nodes in accordancewith a routing protocol utilized by the hosted virtual machine networks.By way of illustrative examples, the mapping information can correspondto information facilitating the translation of customer subnet, routingtarget, border router IP address and VPN label information associatedwith the router components 816 and network update type messageidentifier, border router substrate IP address, customer subnet and MPLSlabel information by utilization of the mapping information associatedwith hosted virtual network components. The virtual network mappingcomponents 806 then store the mapping information in the mapping datastore 810.

With reference to FIG. 10B, to facilitate the generation of incomingdata packets (from the perspective of the hosted virtual network), thevirtual network mapping component 806 configures one or more of therouter components 816 with the mapping information. Illustratively, themapping information provides the router components with the informationrequired by the router components to direct data communications tohosted virtual network components, such as by encapsulation. Theincoming data packet is configured by the router components inaccordance with the hosted virtual communication protocol. Thereafter,the router components 816 can directly transmit the encapsulated, orotherwise processed, data packets to the identified node of the hostedvirtual network for further processing. As illustrated in FIG. 10B, therouter components 816 did not need to establish communications with thehosted virtual network components to obtain the necessary virtualnetwork communication protocol information to facilitate communicatedirectly (or indirectly) through the substrate network 802.

With reference to FIG. 10C, to facilitate the generation of outgoingdata packets (from the perspective of the hosted virtual network), thevirtual network mapping component 806 configures one or more of thehosted virtual network components with the mapping information. In oneembodiment, the virtual network mapping component 806 can configure thehosted virtual network components asynchronous to any type ofcommunication event. In another embodiment, the virtual network mappingcomponent 806 can configure the hosted virtual network componentssynchronously to a communication event, such as upon receipt of arequest for the mapping information as illustrated in FIG. 10C.

Regardless of whether the configuration of hosted virtual networkcomponents is synchronous or asynchronous, outgoing data packets areconfigured by the hosted virtual network components in accordance withthe router communication protocol. Thereafter, the hosted virtualnetwork components can directly transmit the encapsulated, or otherwiseprocessed, data packets to the identified node of the hosted virtualnetwork for further processing. As illustrated in FIG. 10C, the hostedvirtual network components did not need to establish communications withthe router components 816 to obtain the necessary virtual networkcommunication protocol information to facilitate communicate directly(or indirectly) through the substrate network 802.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a routine 1100 for facilitating thetransmission of incoming data communications to a hosted virtual networkwill be described. At block 1102, the virtual network mapping component806 obtains or identifies mapping information corresponding to therouter communication protocol and the virtual network communicationprotocol. The virtual network mapping component 806 can store themapping information in the mapping data store 810 or utilize previouslymapped information as part of an updating process.

At block 1104, the virtual network mapping component 806 provides themapping information to one or more router components 816 of acommunication network 812. Illustratively, the virtual network mappingcomponent 806 can configure the router components 816 in a way thatallows the router components 816 to generate communications to varioushosted virtual network components, such as via encapsulation inaccordance with the hosted virtual network communication protocol. Forexample, in one embodiment, the router components would translatecustomer subnet, routing target, border router IP address and VPN labelinformation associated with the router components 816 into networkupdate type message identifier, border router substrate IP address,customer subnet and MPLS label information by utilization of the mappinginformation. At block 1106, the substrate network receives theencapsulated data packets from the router components 816 and utilizesthe virtual network communication protocol to cause the data packets tobe received at specific hosted virtual network components. At block1108, the routine 1100 terminates.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a routine 1200 for facilitating thetransmission of outgoing data communications from a hosted virtualnetwork or hosted virtual network components will be described. At block1202, the virtual network mapping component 806 identifies or obtainsmapping information corresponding to the router communication protocoland the virtual network communication protocol. The virtual networkmapping component 806 can store the mapping information in the mappingdata store 810 or utilize previously mapped information as part of anupdating process. At block 1204, the virtual network mapping component806 can optionally receive a request from hosted virtual networkcomponent for the mapping information, which relates generally to asynchronous process. In an asynchronous process, block 1204 can beomitted.

At block 1206, the virtual network mapping component 806 provides thehosted virtual network components or a requesting hosted virtual networkcomponent with mapping information. Illustratively, the virtual networkmapping component 806 can configure the hosted virtual networkcomponents in a way that allows hosted virtual network components togenerate communications to various router components 816, such as viaencapsulation in accordance with the router communication protocol. Forexample, in one embodiment, the hosted virtual network components wouldtranslate network update type message identifier, border routersubstrate IP address, customer subnet and MPLS label informationassociated with the hosted virtual network components into customersubnet, routing target, border router IP address and VPN labelinformation by utilization of the mapping information. At block 1208,the substrate network receives the encapsulated data packets from hostedvirtual network component and utilizes the router communication protocolto cause the data packets to be received at specific routercommunication components. At block 1210, the routine 1200 terminates.

It will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that there area number of ways to modify the routing information associated withrequests from a class of client computing devices. It will further beappreciated by one skilled in the relevant art that the timing at whichperformance is monitored and updates to routing information are made canvary.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that allof the functions described in this disclosure may be embodied insoftware executed by one or more processors of the disclosed componentsand mobile communication devices. The software may be persistentlystored in any type of non-volatile storage.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art. It willfurther be appreciated that the data and/or components described abovemay be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded into memory ofthe computing device using a drive mechanism associated with a computerreadable storing the computer executable components such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, or network interface further, the component and/or data can beincluded in a single device or distributed in any manner. Accordingly,general purpose computing devices may be configured to implement theprocesses, algorithms and methodology of the present disclosure with theprocessing and/or execution of the various data and/or componentsdescribed above.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included herein withinthe scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for managing hosted virtual machinenetworks comprising: a processor; and a memory operatively coupled tothe processor, the memory including instructions that upon execution bythe processor cause the system to: host a first virtual machine; andexecute a virtual network mapping program, the virtual network mappingprogram configured to: obtain incoming and outgoing data communicationsbetween the first virtual machine and an external network, wherein theincoming data communications are received from the external network viaa virtual private network (VPN) in accordance with a data communicationprotocol and the outgoing data communications are received from thefirst virtual machine in accordance with a virtual network communicationprotocol; access mapping information corresponding to an association ofthe data communication protocol to the virtual network communicationprotocol, wherein each router in a plurality of routers provides agateway between one virtual machine in a plurality of virtual machinesand the external network, wherein the mapping information corresponds toa subset of routers in the plurality of routers, and wherein the mappinginformation facilitates a translation of VPN label informationassociated with at least one router in the subset of routers; andfacilitate modification of the outgoing data communications for use bythe first virtual machine using the mapping information.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the data communication protocol corresponds to aborder gateway protocol.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the virtualnetwork mapping program maps information to all routers in the pluralityof routers.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality ofvirtual network mapping components for processing communications betweenone or more virtual machines in the plurality of virtual machines andone or more routers in the plurality of routers.
 5. The system of claim4, wherein the plurality of virtual network mapping components mapinformation to all routers in the external network.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the virtual network mapping program is furtherconfigured to configure a first router in the plurality of routers withthe mapping information to facilitate modification of the incoming datacommunications.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first virtualmachine does not maintain information corresponding to the datacommunication protocol.
 8. A system for managing hosted virtual machinenetworks comprising: a processor; and a memory operatively coupled tothe processor, the memory including instructions that upon execution bythe processor cause the system to: host a first virtual machine; andexecute a virtual network mapping program, the virtual network mappingprogram configured to: process at least one of incoming and outgoingdata communications between the first virtual machine and an externalnetwork, wherein the incoming data communications are received from theexternal network via a virtual private network (VPN) in accordance witha data communication protocol and the outgoing data communications arereceived from the first virtual machine in accordance with a virtualnetwork routing protocol; provide mapping information corresponding toan association of the data communication protocol and the virtualnetwork routing protocol, wherein each router in a plurality of routersprovides a gateway between one or more virtual machines in a pluralityof virtual machines and the external network, wherein the mappinginformation corresponds to a subset of routers in the plurality ofrouters, and wherein the mapping information facilitates a translationof VPN label information associated with at least one router in thesubset of routers; and facilitate translation of the incoming datacommunications for use by a first router in the plurality of routersusing the mapping information.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thevirtual network communication protocol corresponds to a multiprotocollabel switching communication protocol.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the virtual network mapping program maps information to allrouters in the plurality of routers.
 11. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising a plurality of virtual network mapping programs forprocessing communications between one or more virtual machines in theplurality of virtual machines and one or more routers in the pluralityof routers.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein the virtual networkmapping program is further configured to configure the first virtualmachine with the mapping information to facilitate translation of theoutgoing data communications.
 13. The system as recited in claim 8,wherein the virtual network mapping program obtains the incoming andoutgoing data communications between the first virtual machine and theexternal network.
 14. The system as recited in claim 8, wherein thefirst virtual machine does not maintain information corresponding to thedata communication protocol.
 15. A method for managing hosted virtualmachines comprising: by execution of instructions on one or morehardware processors: obtaining, by a hosted virtual network, at leastone of incoming and outgoing data communications between a first virtualmachine in a plurality of virtual machines and an external network,wherein the incoming data communications are received from the externalnetwork via a virtual private network (VPN) in accordance with a datacommunication protocol and the outgoing data communications are receivedfrom the first virtual machine in accordance with a virtual networkrouting protocol; providing, by the hosted virtual network, mappinginformation corresponding to an association of the data communicationprotocol and the virtual network routing protocol, wherein the mappinginformation facilitates a translation of VPN label informationassociated with at least one router in the subset of routers; andtranslating data communications between the first virtual machine andthe external network based on the mapping information, wherein eachrouter in a plurality of routers provides a gateway between one virtualmachine in the plurality of virtual machines and the external network,and wherein the mapping information corresponds to a subset of routersin the plurality of routers.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thevirtual network mapping component maps information to all routers in theplurality of routers.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein translatingdata communications based on the mapping information further comprisesencapsulating the data communications in accordance with the virtualnetwork routing protocol.
 18. The method of claim 15, whereintranslating data communications based on the mapping information furthercomprises de-encapsulating the data communications in accordance withthe virtual network routing protocol.
 19. The method of claim 15,wherein obtaining at least one of incoming and outgoing datacommunications between the first virtual machine and an external networkincludes obtaining the incoming and outgoing data communications betweenthe first virtual machine and the external network.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the first virtual machine does not maintaininformation corresponding to the data communication protocol.